


Oatmeal Raisin

by biscuitsandgravy



Series: Baking with Nagisa [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Fixing your problems with baked goods, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4471979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biscuitsandgravy/pseuds/biscuitsandgravy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa knows that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but even so, it's going to take something pretty special to get through to Rei.</p><p>Sequel to Sugar Cookies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oatmeal Raisin

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Nagisa!
> 
> Even though I would love it if you read Sugar Cookies first, this could probably stand alone.

When confronted with any kind of problem, Nagisa had always been the type to go to his friends for advice. And why not? Nagisa had some great friends. Mako-chan was considerate, Haru-chan was the no-nonsense type, Rin-chan was passionate, and Rei-chan was analytical.

 

But, most of the time, Nagisa ended up disregarding the advice and doing whatever the hell he wanted. It wasn’t that his friends didn’t have his best interests at heart, it was just that Nagisa couldn’t stand to do anything that didn’t feel right to him.

 

“Then why even bother asking us?” Rin had groaned on one occasion. 

 

Things usually worked out for the best, though.

 

Usually.

 

This time, Nagisa had been at a loss. Not because he didn’t know how to apologize to Rei for making him feel awkward, but because he didn’t even know if he _could_ be forgiven. Confessing his feelings had been a huge risk, and if Rei’s strangled squawk and stuttered excuse to _get the hell out of there_ were any indication, Nagisa’s feelings weren’t reciprocated. So he went to his Mako-chan, who was reliable and able to see all sides of a situation. Nagisa hadn’t wanted advice so much as reassurance that things would work out, but Makoto was good at that, too.

 

And as always, Makoto came through for him. Something about the older boy was so soothing; maybe it had to do with being responsible for calming down the twins when one (or both) had a scraped knee or a bad dream.

 

But Makoto’s advice had lacked a certain…something. He told Nagisa that a peace offering of fresh sugar cookies would get Rei in the mood for forgiveness. But Makoto’s advice was the type for pleasing everyone.

 

Nagisa only wanted to please Rei. 

 

So he decided on a slightly different course of action. Something a little more special. After tinkering with his recipe (and testing out more than one unsuccessful batch on his family), Nagisa was finally ready to present Rei-chan with the perfect cookie: oatmeal raisin.

 

Not that Makoto’s advice hadn’t been good, but he was just too neutral. Sugar cookies just wouldn’t work. Oatmeal raisin felt so much more _right_ for the situation. _Plus, Rei-chan was probably the kind of nerd that preferred a healthy cookie_ , Nagisa reasoned. 

 

——

 

The next day, armed with the most beautiful cookies out of the batch (perfectly round, with an even distribution of raisins) in a carefully decorated paper bag, Nagisa was ready to make amends. He told himself that whatever the outcome, he wouldn’t fault Rei and he’d find a way to make things right. If Makoto said that things would work out, then things would probably be alright somehow. 

 

Even so, Nagisa felt like all the cookies he’d eaten that day were made out of cement (even though cookies had never betrayed him before).

 

But there was one small problem with his idea- Rei seemed to be avoiding him. It would have been hard to start the conversation in class, but it was starting to look like Nagisa wouldn’t have a chance to talk to him anywhere else. Every time they had a break between classes, Rei would dash off somewhere before Nagisa could even say a word. He would always return before their next class started, but too late for Nagisa to ask Rei to meet him later. Even at lunch, Rei somehow managed to find excuses to arrive late and leave early. Makoto eyed them both carefully, but said nothing. Haruka didn’t comment on the tension, and neither did Gou.

 

“Remember, I have to leave practice thirty minutes early today,” Gou said. “Makoto-senpai, you will be in charge of making sure everyone else leaves on time,” she continued, looking pointedly at Haru (who ignored her). This was good news for Nagisa though; if Gou wasn’t going to stick around until the end of practice, there was a chance he might be able to speak to Rei alone. Nagisa fidgeted nervously.

 

——

 

Sure enough, after practice officially ended, Makoto herded everyone to the showers, even though Haru was still eying the pool. They were all somewhat subdued, which that was normal for Haru but less so for Nagisa and Rei.

 

Makoto suddenly broke the silence. “Oh, I forgot but my mother asked me to run an errand on the way home,” he said. “Nagisa, Rei, would you mind locking up in my place?” Both Nagisa and Rei nodded. “Haru, we should probably get going.” Haru didn’t seem surprised that he was somehow involved in this sudden errand and he allowed himself to be led out of the shower. Makoto squeezed Nagisa’s shoulder in a reassuring way before leaving with Haru in tow.

 

The only problem with being alone with Rei was that now there was nothing to break the tension. They turned off the shower a few minutes after Makoto and Haru left and began drying off.

 

“You did a great job today, Rei-chan!” Nagisa said brightly to try and save the mood. Rei didn’t say anything, just picked at a thread on his towel. Nagisa continued. “Gou-chan didn’t yell at you once today! I’m a little jealous!”

 

Rei nodded weakly. “N-Nagisa-kun, I-“ he started.

 

“No, Rei-chan, please listen!” Nagisa cut him off more forcefully than he intended but he couldn’t stand the tension anymore. “I told you something that made you feel bad and now I feel bad too. I don’t like that we’re not friends anymore! I made you some cookies-” that were still in his backpack, he realized. “-but I’d do anything to be your friend again! Let me go get your cookies,” Nagisa turned and made a move to run to his backpack. He felt close to tears and he didn’t want Rei to see.

 

“Nagisa-kun,” Rei said quietly, and Nagisa stopped instantly. “I…I’m just not sure what to say,” he said.

 

“It’s okay, Rei-chan! Just tell me what I can do! I miss talking to you in class,” Nagisa faced Rei and did his best to smile. He didn’t want Rei forgiving him just because he looked sad.

 

“No, it’s not about anything you did,” he was smiling weakly, almost like he was about to cry also. “When you told me that, that you uh, cared about me-“ Nagisa flinched “-I was surprised. That’s all.”

 

“You screamed and ran away,” Nagisa pointed out. _Maybe that wasn’t helpful._ Rei smiled a little.

 

“Isn’t that a logical reaction to being surprised?” Rei asked. Nagisa couldn’t help but giggle. “But, at any rate,” Rei started, looking serious again. “I was very unsure about what to do. It was wrong of me to ignore you. I’m sorry.”

 

That should have made Nagisa feel better, but Rei was looking anywhere other than Nagisa’s face. “No, Rei-chan! I shouldn’t have just confessed to you out of nowhere!”

 

Rei blushed and rubbed his neck. “To be honest, Nagisa-kun, it wasn’t out of nowhere,” he said shyly.

 

“What?” Now Nagisa was confused. “You just said you were surprised!”

 

“Because you told me you wanted my opinion on which socks looked best with your new shoes! And then you confessed to having feelings for me!” Rei exclaimed, then quickly steeled himself into composure. “I thought this would happen sooner or later. I just didn’t expect it right then. And then I thought you would be hurt by my reaction, so I wanted to wait until we were both calm to discuss it.”

 

Rei was smiling kindly and for the first time in several days, the tension in Nagisa’s stomach dissipated. “You mean you weren’t…insulted?” He asked hopefully.

 

“No. Like I said, I was fully prepared to give my opinion on your socks. I just just caught off-guard, Nagisa-kun,” Rei said, and he was finally looking at Nagisa. 

 

Suddenly, something else registered in Nagisa’s mind. “Wait, you said something else. You said that you expected me to confess eventually?” He asked.

 

Rei started and stared at the ground. “Um. Yes. Ever since we met, I felt like…like it was inevitable that we would fall for each other,” Rei mumbled.

 

This all sounded too good to be true to Nagisa; Rei-chan didn’t hate him! He was just embarrassed! His eyes filled with tears, but this time, they were happy tears. “Rei-chan…” he launched himself at Rei. To Nagisa’s amazement, Rei placed his hand on Nagisa’s shoulder and rubbed it slowly.

 

“Sorry, I know I’m not great at this,” Rei said quietly.

 

“It’s okay, Rei-chan,” Nagisa said as he buried his face in Rei’s shoulder. Unfortunately, his stomach decided to take the opportunity to growl loudly. Nagisa giggled nervously and Rei patted his shoulder.

 

“You didn’t eat much at lunch today, did you, Nagisa-kun?” Rei asked.

 

“No! I was so nervous I only drank one strawberry milk!” Nagisa wailed. Rei began walking toward the locker room and Nagisa followed.

 

“Well, lucky for you, I always keep an energy bar in my backpack for emergencies like this!” Rei boasted. “And didn’t you say something about cookies?”

 

“Yes! But those are for you, Rei-chan. I made them special! I ate a ton of them yesterday, anyway,” Nagisa said.

 

“Really? What kind are they?” Rei asked.

 

“Oatmeal raisin! I wanted to make a special nutritious cookie for your health!” Nagisa said proudly.

 

“But any kind of cookie would be extremely high in-“ Rei started, but then stopped himself. “Nevermind. I’m touched that you thought of me,” he said warmly. “I’m sure they’re delicious and I can’t wait to try one.”

 

As they reached the locker room, Nagisa grabbed Rei’s hand. And Rei didn’t pull away.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote something happy for these dorks, yayyyy!


End file.
